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Hope all is well for 2008 and all the best after testing positive about a year ago the doc is ready to start meds, which is cool i trust his advice.however for the last couple of months I have been over sleeping alot I mean I could sleep for 12hours a day easily. wondering if anyone else had this experience and if the above meds would help and how long it would take for them to help me feel rested after 7 - 8 hours of sleep like normal people

Thanks Kimiko

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BobF

Hi. I started Atripla in September, 2007 and have found that it causes alot of sleep issues. I'm always tired, I have strange dreams, and there are times when I'll go 3-4 days without more than an hour or two of sleep despite being exhausted. You may want to tell your Doc about your current sleep problems before starting Sustiva

Hey there. I have been taking sustiva and Truvada for more than a year now. I have had many problems in sleeping well. I take ambien to assist in that. I don't care to take the ambien but it does help. I change the dosage of the ambian to sort of control it. Not matter what I do, I need a little bit of it to help me sleep. The effects on my head after taking Sustiva is odd. I feel like I'm in a cloud. Once I wasn't woken up as a fire alarm was going off and no one in the building knew where the turn off button was. There was no fire. So they woke me up and I stumbled down into the basement wearing nothing more than my underwear which were not exactly doing their job, but my brain was so much in a cloud it was like I was stoned. The guys all thought I had hit the weed or something wich is something I don't do. They were confused. My bare feet were cold and I wanted the warmth of my sheets. To this day when I think about that night I remember it as if it were a memory from a dream. Things are just so distorted in Sustiva. I guess that's why they recommend taking it right before you go to sleep and have an ambian on hand to get you through the night. Some of the dreams are amazing so all is not at a loss. Good luck to you.

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It is with passion, courage of conviction, and strong sense of self that we take our next steps into the world. Remembering that first impressions are not always correct. You must always have faith in people, and most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself. ~E. Woods

I take Atripla @ 11 in the morning and am fine...I just eat breakfast 2 hours before and lunch 2 hours after...I started at night though 2 hours before bed to get used to the side effects and it was effecting my sleep too much....now I am sleeping fine since I started taking it in the daytime.

I just started taking two days ago the combo Truvada and Sustiva (Stocrin in Europe).

It is my first time on HIV meds so I was expecting the worst after reading here about all the possible side effects using Sustiva.

My first two days, I have taken the pills about 2 to 4 hours prior to going to sleep.

Here are my personal findings:

1) Slight headache after first taking the meds but not bad enough to take aspirin. Headache goes away after a couple of hours2) After an hour or so of sleeping, I begin to get up to pee every few hours. A sense of dizziness is present throughout most of the night3) My mouth feels dry most of the night so I keep bottled water by my night stand4) I had dreams both evenings, although nothing weird or disturbing5) I have had NO problem falling asleep or going back to sleep after I wake up from going to pee6) No diarrhea. However, stool seems to become a bit more acidic since I began taking the meds which in turn caused the rim of my anus to get irritated. Doctor recommended using Vaseline after every stool movement as a remedy instead of a Cortisone cream7) So far, after taking the medication I get a slight burning sensation around the head of my penis. Nothing intense, but I feel it is there on and off throughout the day. Doctor couldn't explain it as there is no written information about this type of side effect No feelings of tiredness either

Thus far, the worse side effects other people seem to experience while taking this combination therapy are not presenting themselves to me. I will keep you all posted if anything changes.

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Psychologist, PhDCounseling patients with HIV since Jan 1991HIV since Dec 2005There are three parts to any successful relationship (platonic or romantic): trust, honesty and communication

1) No more headaches2) Evening dizziness is lasting not as long as the first two days3) Burning sensation around penis head is disappearing4) Dry mouth during the night continues, so continue to drink plenty of water during the 2 to 4 times I get up to pee during the night5) Dreams continue, although as I mentioned before, nothing drastic6) Still no tiredness to complain about7) No diarrhea No sleepness nights

So far, so good.....

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Psychologist, PhDCounseling patients with HIV since Jan 1991HIV since Dec 2005There are three parts to any successful relationship (platonic or romantic): trust, honesty and communication

Thank you for all your responses and Doktor keep me posted My appoimtment with my doc is next week so going to get my meds then Really appreciate that you are sharing your experience the one thing I am looking forward to on the meds is a restful night of sleep can't say when last I had one of those Kim

Has your doctor tried to find out why you have been sleeping so much? I see you write it has only started in the last couple of months, so has something changed which might have caused the change in your sleep cycle? Just wondering.

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Psychologist, PhDCounseling patients with HIV since Jan 1991HIV since Dec 2005There are three parts to any successful relationship (platonic or romantic): trust, honesty and communication

1) Dizziness is gone2) Dry mouth is gone3) Dreams continue, although as I said before, nothing horrific.4) One thing I noticed tonight is that I ate quite a bit closer to the time I took my meds and did not drink as much water as I usually do after taking the meds. Therefore, about an hour later I had minor stomach pains which eventually went away as I kept drinking more water. - So, I suggest always drinking plenty of water with your meds.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!

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Psychologist, PhDCounseling patients with HIV since Jan 1991HIV since Dec 2005There are three parts to any successful relationship (platonic or romantic): trust, honesty and communication

Hi there everyone, Im so glad i stumbled on this site, my daughter has hiv, she is starting meds tonight. Sustava and truvada, I can give her so much advice from you guys, she is so scared! Thank you so much and I will let you know how she is going!

Hi there everyone, Im so glad i stumbled on this site, my daughter has hiv, she is starting meds tonight. Sustava and truvada, I can give her so much advice from you guys, she is so scared! Thank you so much and I will let you know how she is going!

Glad you are there for your daughter....tell her not to be scared...I know it is easier said than done...I was scared myself....am now 2 months into my meds and I never had any reason to worry...be sure to show her this site so she can look over it herself...this site was a god send for me...I am glad I found it.....please keep us up to date.

First night on meds with no probs, only a banging hangover in morning, gone by lunchtime. Second night, not much sleep, vomiting began around 4am, with intermittant trots, swollen and very dry, painful eyes and such a swollen face! Hey ho! Needless to say, my girl is not wanting to take meds tonight, but she has, hope it dosnt get much worse, this is heartbreaking stuff.